The toll of any innocent child dying is devastating and horrific. Their lives – which should be filled with love, happiness, and learning – are ultimately taken away from them.  Imagine if tens of thousands of innocent children and babies face this cruel ending. In Yemen, this is exactly what is happening.

It is reported that by the end of the Christmas season over 50,000 Yemeni children are to die from starvation and disease. A solution would be to push the United States government to help these lives, however, this is easier said than done.

Currently, Yemen is undergoing a Saudi led coalition. This coalition consists of tightening the blockades which makes it extremely difficult and practically impossible to send aid for these Yemeni children. For example, not only an essential entry port for food distribution but also a humanitarian’s place of delivering medicine and aide, the port of Hodeidah, has been blockaded. It is reported that about 80% of Yemen does not have a reliable access to food. The longer the blockade exists the more victims there are. Food, Fuel, Water – all are scarce if not at completely gone from this country. Innocent children are casualties of a conflict between Saudi Arabia and Houthi rebels, to which they have no part in.

Controversy arises as the citizens of the United States are ridiculing the government for essentially granting immunity to Saudi Arabia due to their political ties. Controversy also arises as the United States is backing Saudi bombings which have left a devastating Cholera outbreak. Cholera is an infectious disease that is caused eating or drinking that is contaminated with Vibrio cholerae and results in dehydration, low blood sugar, low potassium levels, kidney failure even death if left untreated. Essentially, the United States is supporting a bombing campaign which is murdering the lives of innocent children.

President Trump claims that he has full confidence in the Saudi King; however, it is in fact abusing international human rights laws by using starvation and disease as a military tactic to win a war. Although President Trump has become a topic of debate for the United States government, the fact of the matter is, as long as we continue to support Saudi’s actions, it is as if we condone the violence that is taking place in Yemen.

It is sickening to witness a violence that has the potential to be mended but due to selfish conflicts, cannot be touched. The United Nations has called this coalition the “worst humanitarian crisis in the world.” Geert Cappelaere, the middle east’s director for the United  Nations Children’s Fund or otherwise known as UNICEF, reports that “11 million children are in need for humanitarian assistance” and that “every 10 minutes, a child dying from a preventable disease.” Based off of this number, it includes almost every single boy and girl in Yemen.

The coalition is in dire need of a solution, if not a solution, at least a way to grant access to allow humanitarian aid within the country. The United States needs to rethink their ties with Saudi Arabia, as they are the cause to this inhumane devastation.